Body found in Crawford County was missing head, hands (Updated: 4:30 p.m.)

These are contributed photos of Richard A. Houy, of Rockdale Township, at left, who was charged Sept. 26 with killing Gerald P.VanDyke, at right, and tampering with evidence to conceal his death. CONTRIBUTED/ERIE TIMES-NEWS

An autopsy performed on a body found in a steel drum in Crawford County on Saturday morning determined that the victim died of a hunting arrow that ruptured a victim's aorta, state police said this afternoon.

But the autopsy, performed this morning, failed to positively identify the victim. The body was missing its head and hands, and DNA testing will have to be done to determine the identity, Crawford County Coroner Scott Schell said.

Investigators believe the body is that of Gerald P. VanDyke, 55, who went missing on Sept. 14. Richard A. Houy, 68, was charged on Thursday with killing VanDyke, the longtime boyfriend of Houy's daughter, and disposing the body.

Houy had told police that he assaulted VanDyke on Sept. 14 and dumped the body in French Creek before abandoning VanDyke's pickup truck. Houy's daughter told police that her father talked of hitting VanDyke in the head with a metal object, and she said she was led to believe that VanDyke's body was placed in barrels or drums, according to case documents.